This has been an interesting conversation. I have had a business page on fb for almost a year. It has generated sales and interest. But I have a hard time keeping up with it. Very hard. I feel if I am on fb, that I am not doing something else in the studio. And if life gets incredibly busy (family, illness, whatever) then fb just sits there. I have been trying to find time to sit down and create a simple website if for no other reason than "online business card" but I agree with Mea and Mark...it is very difficult doing orders online you are right....many emails back and forth and pictures and shipping discussions and, and... this last holiday season was truly a learning experience for me!

I am laid up with a shoulder repair right now, so one of the things I wanted to address while I can't be in the studio is the website issue. I thought about a webpage with no shopping cart. But that will lead to numerous emails and phone calls. I will think on these things.

I have had time to post new things on my fb page and had really had a lot of interest. Two leads for displaying my work within a 90 mile trek. Not bad for where I Iive!

You are laid up anyhow ... so build a simple informational website. It is one place on the Internet where you totally control the message. Limit it to images in a gallery, information about you and your work and a list of places where they can go an buy it.

Don't want sales? Refer them to your sales sites. Don't want phone calls? Don't list your phone number. You can have an all purpose answer to e-mails on your desktop that you can just cut and paste into a reply. You are the boss of it.

Well John, I know my click away time is in that area ... shorter than that sometimes. You gotta show something quick ... Be it writing or an image.
I also judge a business by their website be it an airline or an artist. It is amazing to me how unfriendly some huge sites can be and how wonderful others are. There are some web designers out there who are truly inspired artists.